Pretoria, Jun 22 (Prensa Latina) South African Congress Union (Cosatu) denounced today recent statements by US president Donald Trump against Cuba, which it described as an affront to the sovereign right of that people to freely elect its way towards development and progress.

In a statement in this capital, Cosatu expressed its strong solidarity with the Cuban people and support for its sovereign right to a system that has proven to help the poor, exposed the failures of capitalism in social justice and has developed a progressive Internationalism that helps human development and the struggle of peoples and the working class.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party will stage a picket in Pretoria at Francis Baard outside the UN Offices on Thursday 18 May 2017 at 10am -12pm, in support of the Bolivarian revolution. We will deliver a memorandum to the UN Offices at Francis Baard in Pretoria.

We unapologetically support the Venezuelan government and condemn the underhanded attempts to destabilize that country.

The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) has noted with repugnance the attempts by the US-backed and Venezuelan opposition-supported fake efforts to create an impression to the world that the South African public supports the Venezuelan opposition and is in opposition of their government by using South Africa as a base for their onslaught against the Venezuelan government.

Last week a fake protest was staged in Durban, claiming they held picket at the Venezuelan embassy. The images which had the Durban beach front were splashed across the world, therefore creating an impression that South Africans are demonstrating against the Venezuelan government and are in support of the opposition therein.

We want to put it on record that there is no Venezuelan embassy in Durban, and view these deliberate lies as unfortunate and divisive, and urge our government to closely monitors these ill intents as they clearly border on undermining our sovereignty and security as a country, but further as disregarding the process of dialogue aimed at resolving their internal challenges.

We are aware that they are organising another protest at the United Nations offices in Pretoria next week Thursday, which will again be falsely used as a sign of solidarity from the people of South Africa to the opposition in Venezuela.

We urge the US government to refrain from undermining the sovereignty of Venezuela and the opposition to participate in their national dialogue than resorting to violent disruptions.